'Vampire Survivors' entered early access in 2021.
However, I didn't start playing until its official release in 2022, a year later. The reason? It didn't look like much fun. The anachronistic pixel art and lackluster background didn't exactly scream intuitive gameplay. I only started playing for a trivial reason: I had nothing to do during some downtime on an overseas business trip, and I was looking for a lightweight game that would run on my laptop—and the price was just as light.
I almost ruined an overseas business trip because I stayed up all night playing it. Forget the graphics—the game's logic was just insane. With hundreds of achievements and stages, the number of weapons and combinations kept growing as I cleared them. Plus, there was that strangely precise growth curve that made every run feel just a little bit better than the last. I became such a fan that I’ve tried almost every so-called 'Survivor-like' game that has flooded the market since.
Now, five years later, 'Vampire Crawlers' has arrived, taking the assets and logic of 'Vampire Survivors' and swapping the genre. I started it with a healthy dose of skepticism, thinking, 'A dungeon crawler is a dungeon crawler, right.'
I admit it. I'm about to lose another night of sleep.
The Genre Has Changed, But the 'Addictive Logic' Remains
What is the secret to the fun of the original "Vampire Survivors'? I spent a long time pondering and researching what made it so compelling, and my conclusion was that it boiled down to "solid motivation." "Vampire Survivors' created reasons to keep playing through multiple channels. You might die quickly in your first run, but through repeated deaths, you upgrade, acquire new weapons, unlock new maps, and uncover secrets—a process that leads to an immense amount of playtime.
And 'Vampire Crawlers', despite the different genre, follows the exact same design philosophy as 'Vampire Survivors'.
In every new dungeon, you'll find hidden coffins, new cards, and artifacts. You can unlock familiar characters—who were 'Survivors' in the previous game but are now 'Crawlers'—one by one, and gradually grow stronger through artifacts and Arcana.
The 'upgrade' system is identical, too. You use currency earned from dungeon runs to slightly boost stats like attack power, mana capacity, and attack frequency (projectiles), with each upgrade becoming more expensive than the last.
Above all, the overwhelming volume of achievements and the resulting content unlocks remain as strong as ever. Every time you clear a run, you unlock a massive amount of new content—sometimes over a dozen items at once. In its predecessor, 'Vampire Survivors,' this 'game system that expands with every clear' was an incredibly powerful motivator. Even though the genre has changed, 'Vampire Crawler' succeeds by tapping into that same source of fun.
But, Adapted for a Dungeon Crawler
At its core, it's a deck-building Roguelike dungeon crawler. You dive into a dungeon with just a handful of cards, fight enemies, and gain new cards or modify existing ones as you level up. Once you reach the end of the stage, that familiar Red Death appears to end your run.
The cards you encounter are all the same ones from 'Vampire Survivors'. The 'Bracer' that used to increase projectile speed is now a card that increases your hand size; the 'Attractorb' that used to increase your pickup range now draws new cards. While there are slight modifications, anyone who played the original will immediately recognize their purpose.
Weapon evolution is also reflected perfectly. Combining the 1-cost 'King Bible' (which deals area damage) with the 'Spellbinder' (which increases crawler buff duration) creates the much more powerful area-of-effect 'Unholy Vespers'. Similarly, the 'Magic Wand' (which targets specific enemies) combined with the 'Empty Tome' (which increases temporary mana) creates the powerful 'Holy Wand'.
Adding to the vitality are the 'Combo', 'Gem', and 'Rank' systems. Playing cards in order from low to high cost exponentially increases their power, allowing you to sweep through enemies with ease. The gem system allows you to modify cards—simply doubling damage, increasing attack range, or even using gem slots for evolution.
The 'Rank' system is the game logic behind the enemies in 'Vampire Crawlers'. Enemies attack in 'ranks' of up to five, and they won't attack until they reach the player's front line. Since 'knockback' or 'disarm' effects on attack cards can block enemy attacks, you can potentially clear battles without taking damage if you play well. Literally, 'if you play well.'
Ultimately, both 'Vampire Survivors' and 'Vampire Crawlers' are about obliterating everything in your path. The only difference is that instead of moving to dodge enemies, you have to use your head. You could call it a 'Vampire Survivors' where your body is more relaxed, but your brain has to work harder?
Low Price, High Fun Floor
Combined, these elements ensure that 'Vampire Crawlers' offers an incredibly long playtime for its price of around ₩10,000. The ceiling for fun naturally has its limits; this isn't a AAA game with ultra-high-end graphics or a deep, immersive narrative. However, the floor is very high. It's fun from the moment you start, and even if you aren't particularly interested in deck-building, you'll adapt to the game with ease.
It belongs to the category of what we call a 'time killer.' It's not a game with a high ceiling that triggers massive dopamine rushes, but it's a game you start casually and suddenly realize hours have passed. It's like a reliable comfort meal—it may lack emotional peaks, but it has a steadily rising curve of fun.
Poncle. This British indie studio has done it again. When you feel like there's nothing to play, or when you want to forget everything and just focus, 'Vampire Crawlers' is the perfect replacement for the now-aging 'Vampire Survivors'.
- The same fun structure as Vampire Survivors
- A textbook example of a genre shift
- Easy entry barrier
- A lack of 'novelty'
- Less content compared to the original
Review Platform: PC (Launch Build)
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